Shoe with heel



Aug. 18, 1953 G. GREISSINGER 2,648,916

SHOE WITH HEEL Filed Sept. 24, 1949 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F75 IN VEN TOR.

GEO! GREI ssmeeg BY Wz Aug. 18, 1953 G. GREISSINGER SHOE WITH HEEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 24, 1949 Patented Aug. 18, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" SHOE WITH HEEL Georg Greissinger, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany Application September 24, 1949, Serial No. 117,682 In FranceSeptember 27, 1948 3 Claims. (CI. 36-85) The present invention relates to heels for shoes.

Conventional heels have the disadvantage of producing fatigue when any appreciable amount of walking is done with such heels. It is a well known fact that the motion of the ankle joint moves about the astragalus, and during walking the heel bone describes an arc of a circle whose center is located at the astragalus. A conventional heel touches the ground at its rearmost point which is displaced considerably from this arc, and as a result the lever arm about the astragalus is lengthened and produces an undeditions while at the same time having a groundcontacting surface which is approximately the same as conventional heels.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a heel which, while closely simulating barefoot walking conditions, at .the same time provides no unfavorable influence on the foot of the wearer.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a heel capable of accomplishing all of the above objects while being fairly resilient.

With the above objects in view the present invention mainly consists of a shoe having a heel with its lower rearmost point located a substantial distance forwardly of its upper rearmost point and lying approximately on the arc of a circle having that portion of a shoe where the astragalus of the wearer is located as a center and the distance between this latter portion'and the portion of the shoe where the rearmost part of the heel bone of the wearer is located as a radius, so that the wearer exerts the same force when walking with the shoe as he would if he were walking without the shoe.

In order to compensate for the distance by which the rearmost lower point of the heel is located forwardly of the rearmost upper point thereof, the heel is provided with an extension on the forward part thereof having a length at least equal to the distance between the lower rearmost part of the heel and the upper rearmost part of the heel, and this extension may be in the form of a tongue which is narrower than the width of the heel. The heel is preferably made of a resilient material and may be provided with hollow spaces in order to increase the resiliency thereof.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with addi tional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a heel show ing the same in association with the remaining part of a shoe and foot of a wearer which are diagrammatically illustrated;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the heel of Fig. 1 as seen from the underside thereof;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View through a heel similar to that of Figs. 1 and 2 and having a hollow space therein;

Figs. 4 and 5 are top plan views of heels similar to that shown in Fig. 3 and illustrating different arrangements for the hollow spaces;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section, similar to that of Fig. 1, illustrating a forward extension on the heel different from that of Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. '7 is a plan view of the heel of Fig. 6 and diagrammatically showing the bone structure of the foot of the wearer located thereover.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a shoe a having the foot of the wearer located therein, the bone structure of this foot being indicated by dotted lines. Theshoe a is provided with a sole b and a heel c, the shank of the shoe being designated by d.

As is shown in Fig. 1, the astragalus is located at point s which is the center of the are e which has a radius 1' equal to the distance from the point s at the astragalus approximately to the rearmost point of the heel bone F. In accordance with the invention, the rearmost lowerpoint f of the heel is located on this are 2. Point 1" indi-' cates the lower rearmost point of a conventionalv heel which, as 'is shown in Fig. 1, is located on I an are having a radius 11 with respect to the point s at the astragalus so that the point f is located forwardly of point f by a distance, or, which may, for example, be about inch. This forward displacement of the lower rearmost point of the heel may be provided by a curved cham fer at the rear of the heel. It is apparent from Fig. 1 that the radius 71 is considerably larger than the lever arm r, and this shortening of the lever arm considerably lessens the force exerted by the wearer when walking, this force closely approximating that required when walking barefoot.

The heel c is lengthened toward the front by the distance 11 (Fig. 1) which should be at least as great as the distance :r. The extension of the heel forwardly, which protrudes into the shank d of the shoe, may have a width equal to that of the heel or may be in the form. of a tonguenarrower than the remainder of the heel and located beneath the shank.

An example of this latter construction is 11-. lustrated in Fig. 2 which shows a heel corresponding to that of Fig. 1 as viewed from the underside thereof. As is apparent from Fig. 2, the tongue 9 is not as wide as the remainder of heel c. Instead of the tongue g of Fig. 2, an extension g as shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 7, protruding angularly from the heel may be provided. The tongues g or 9 may be located either in the center of the foot or under a lateral part thereof depending upon where it is desired to support the foot.

Figs. 3 and 4 show sectional and plan views of a heel or having a width which is not diminished toward the forward end of the heel. The heel c of Figs. 3 and 4 is provided with hollow spaces n which contribute to the elasticity of the heel when the latter is made of a yieldable material. The heel illustrated in Fig. 5 shows a heel 0 similar to that of Fig. 4 but having a single hollow space It rather than substantially rectangular hollow spaces n such as are shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

In the embodimentof the invention which is shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the tongue-like extension g of the heel c is considerably longer than the extension g of Figs. 1 and 2 so that it is located against the entire shank of the shoe and terminates very close to the sole b. In this way it is possible to provide an effective metatarsal support. As is shown in Fig. 7, the forward end of the extension g supports the metatarsus. In Fig. 6, the distance y indicates the length between the forward part of a conventional heel and the sole, and, as is apparent from Fig. 6, the rearmost part of the extension of the heel located at the left hand end of the distance g has a width corresponding to the greatest width of the heel c, the tongue 9' narrowing only forwardly of the rear portion of the extension of the heel c. It is evident that the forward extension of heel c may be carried out in such a way as to be independent of, and unrelated to, the distance a: by which point ,f is located forwardly of the upper rearmost point of the heel.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of heels differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in heels providing wal ing conditions approaching barefoot walking conditions, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made withOut departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowled e readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the followin claims. Y

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A shoe having a heel with its lower rearmost point lying approximately on the arc of a circle having that portion of the shoe where the astragalus of the wearer is located as a center and the distance between said portion and the por i n Of he shoe where the rearmost part of the heel bone of the wearer is located as a radius, whereby the wearer exerts the same force when walking with the shoe as he would if he were walking without the shoe.

2. A shoe having a heel with its lower rearmost point located a substantial distance forwardly of the upper rearmost point of the heel and lying approximately on the arc of a circle having that portion of the shoe where the astr-agalus of the wearer is located as a center and the distance between said portion and the portion of the shoe where the rear-most part of the heel bone of the wearer is located as a radius, whereby the wearer exerts the same force when walking with the shoe as he would if he were walking without the shoe; and said heel having an extension on the forward part thereof of a length at least equal to the distance that said lower rear most part of said heel lies forwardly of said upper rearmost part of said heel, whereby said extension functions as an arch support.

3. A shoe having a heel with its lower rearmost point located a substantial distance forwardly of the upper rearmost point of the heel and lying approximately on the arc of a'circle having that portion of the shoe where the as.- tragalus of the wearer is located as a center and the distance between said portion and the por! tion of the shoe where the rearmost part of the heel bone of the wearer is located as a radius, whereby the wearer exerts the same force when walking with the shoe as he would if he were walkin without the shoe; and said heel having an extension on the forward part thereof of a length at least equal to the distance that said lower rearmost part of said heel lies forwardly of said upper rearmost part of said heel, whereby said extension functions as an arch support, said extension being in the form of a tongue which is narrower than the width of said heel.

GEORG GREISSINGER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

